1) The Home of Charles E. Conrad in 2007
2) Abraham L. Brown Family ca 1908 3) Cayuse Prairie School about 1905 |
History of Our Chapter's Area
The area covered by our chapter originally belonged to the Oregon Territory and was transferred to the Washington Territory in 1853. In 1860 Missoula County was formed and encompassed all of Northwest Montana. In 1863 Missoula was transferred to the newly established Idaho Territory and the following year Missoula became one of the original nine Montana counties. Other than the occasional trapper, white settlement north of Flathead Lake did not begin until the early 1880s and remained sparse as the only means of north-south travel was by steam boat on the Flathead River system. Population growth, caused by the announced coming of the Great Northern Railroad to the region, saw the establishment of the first incorporated town, Demersville, in 1889.
Demersville, located on the Flathead River to take advantage of the transportation of goods used in building the railroad, was not ideally placed for railroad use. Thus, in 1890 a new town site company under the direction of Charles E. Conrad was founded. The name Kalispell, a Salish word meaning grassy place above the lake, was chosen and the new town incorporated in 1891. By 1893 population growth had increased in the region to be sufficient enough for the formation of a new county which comprised all of Flathead and Lincoln Counties, the northern half of Lake County and portions of two others. The originally proposed name was Lake County but the name Flathead, in honor of both the Flathead Indian Nation and Flathead Lake, was chosen. Sanders County remained a part of Missoula until its own formation in 1906. Lincoln was separated in 1909 and Lake was formed in 1923, becoming the second to last county to be created in Montana. While a few wealthy pioneers, such as Charles E. Conrad, choose to make Northwest Montana their home, the majority were hardworking families that came from a variety of backgrounds. Immigrants from Scandinavia, Ireland and Italy were even joined by a former Imperial Guard to the Czar of Russia. These new Americans were joined by old ones primarily from the Midwest and New York but the beauty and opportunities of the region lured families from every state. On February 15, 1917 Chief Ignace Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was formed at Kalispell. By 1930 population growth had stagnated and did not resume at any great pace until the 1980s. Due to both growth and increased interest a new DAR chapter, Bird Woman Falls, was formed at Columbia Falls on May 7, 2007. This spurred interest in forming a local SAR chapter. Several SAR members from Flathead County in attendance at the state convention on August 28, 2011 in Butte put forth a motion for the creation of a new chapter to be named Glacier. The motion was approved and on November 5, 2011 Glacier Chapter was formed with Lon D. Brown as organizing and first chapter president. |